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‘Whether the plant is to heal the body or the spirit
or whether it is part of an apprenticeship, what makes it work is your good
intention towards the plant. They are beings, which have their own forms or
they can be like human beings with faces and bodies. When the spirit accepts
the person, and the person has the will, the spirit grants them energy. The
path to knowledge opens, and the healing takes place’
Guillermo Arevalo – Shipibo Maestro
In the Amazonian tradition working with planta maestras (teacher plants) is
known as the Shaman’s Diet. The working can be seen as a conscious body of
actions to incorporate the plant spirit into one’s own spirit. From this
incorporation or union, the plant spirit informs and teaches the maestro or
apprentice. They learn the magical chants (icaros) which invoke the power of
the plant, how to use the plant for healing purposes, and how to strengthen
the dieter both psychologically and physically. The purpose of the diet is
to prepare the body and nervous system for the powerful knowledge and
expansion of consciousness given by teacher plants.
It offers a significant challenge for the rational Western mind to come to
terms with the teacher plants, and a leap of imagination is required to
incorporate the ‘other’ consciousness, or spirit of the plant.
We also have a ‘linguistic’ limitation (as an analogue the Inuit have over
fifty distinct words for snow), in that the word ‘shaman’ is very recent to
the Amazon, coming via the Western world in the last 20 – 30 years. There
are many words which denote the plant specialisation of the maestro or
Vegetalista. Benjamin Ochavano a 70 year old Shipibo Vegetalista says that
his father was known as a moraya or banco (healer), in Spanish it was a
curandero. A curandero could then further specialise in a particular plant
such as chonta (bamboo) and be a chontero. For example a curandero who
specialises in smells and perfumes would be a perfumero.
Another challenge to our rational mind to enter the magical world to which
we are transported by plants is that it is mainly accessible through dream
language or an expansion of the imagination. Thus dreams & our imaginative
powers act like doorways during a plant diet and connect us with the plant
spirit.
The rational mind can only struggle, to take as an example the famed ‘love
potion’ of the Amazon known as the Pusanga. In rational terms it makes no
sense whatsoever, how can a concoction of leaves, roots, and seeds attract a
lover, or good luck to you? My experience working with shamans in preparing
Pusangas (which normally is prepared away from their clients so it was a
privilege to be invited to participate in the preparation) showed me that
far from interfering with the freedom of other individuals or putting a
‘number’ on them, we were altering something within ourselves, which was
brought out by the ingredients, the magic of the plants. Whatever it was, it
felt wholesome and good. It is what is in oneself… one’s own magic. Asking
Javier Arevalo (the shaman) what does the Pusanga actually do, is it inside
us or outside of us? His response was “When you pour it onto your skin it
begins to penetrate your spirit, and the spirit is what gives you the force
to pull the peopl!
e. The spirit is what pulls”.
The anthropological term ‘sympathetic magic’ does not give this justice, to
illustrate this, the water used in the preparation of an authentic pusanga
(which has been specifically made for you) has been collected from a deep
trek in the rainforest, sometimes 40 or 50 miles, where there are no people
and where clay pools collect and thousands of the most beautiful coloured
parrots and macaws gather to drink from them for the mineral content. Now
the great leap of imagination required is to bring into yourself the
knowledge, the feeling, the sense that the water in the Pusanga has drawn in
or attracted thousands of the most brightly coloured creatures on the
planet. If you do this, it can generate a shift in consciousness in you.
You can sample this for yourself, just find a quiet moment and space, close
your eyes, and with the power of your imagination as the launch pad, draw in
the verdant, abundant forest filled with life, colour, and sound. Sense the
rich vibrancy of the rainforest as a single breathing rhythmic totality of
life force. When you have this image, expand it to include, the humid
warmth, the smell of earth, the scent of plants, hear the sound of insects
and bird song, allow all your senses to experience this. Then with a
conscious decision draw this sensory experience into your being. Whenever
you are ready, open your eyes, and check how you are feeling.
Maestros do not invent diets, they are given by the plant spirits
themselves, but there is more to it than simply abstaining from certain
foods and activities. It involves a state of purification, retreat,
commitment, and respect for our connection with everything around us - above
all the rain forest. When we listen to our dreams, they become more real,
and equally important as everyday life.
The shamans work with the power of the plants in many ways, the colours of
the flowers, the perfume, their shape, form, and associations. To illustrate
this, another maestro Artiduro Aro Cardenas remarks;
‘A smell has the power to attract. I can also make smells to attract
business, people who buy. You just rub it on your face and it brings in the
people to your business, if you are selling, people come to buy. I also make
perfumes for love, and others for flourishing. These are the forces of
nature, what I do is give it direction with my breath so it has effect. I
use my experience of the plants which I have dieted. I have a relation with
the plants and with the patient; I can’t make these things on a commercial
scale.
When I diet I take in the strength of the plant and it stays with me. Later
I find the illness or suffering of the person or what it is they want, and
the plant guides me and tells me if it is the right one for that person, and
I cure them’
He also (as do many maestros) works with the plants not only to heal
illnesses but to resolve domestic and family problems;
‘I get people coming for help to give up drug addiction, people with family
problems, supposing the man has gone off and left his family, the Mama is
here with me and the Papa is far away. I pull him back so he returns to his
home so that the family can consolidate again. In a short time he will be
thinking of his children and his wife, and he comes back. I don’t need to
have the actual plants in front of me, I call the plant spirits which work
for that, Renaco, Huayanche, Lamarosa, Sangapilla, perfumes and I call his
spirit back to the family home. I blow smoke to reunite them.’
Another (in a very enjoyable way) the qualities, consciousness or spirit of
the plant is used to attract benign forces is “los baños florales” or flower
baths. In this the individual is bathed in flowers which have been soaking
in water for many hours. The maestro prepares the water by blowing mapacho
(jungle tobacco) smoke and at the same time placing his intention into the
flower soaked water. Again these flowers and plants have been gathered from
sometimes deep and not easily accessible locations in the rainforest and
have been selected for their specific qualities which the maestro feels are
needed to help that person.
A friend of mine Alonso del Rio, who has lived with the Shipibo people, and
is uniquely well equipped to be a bridge between the indigenous wisdom and
modern Westerners, tells the following;
‘The mind of the traditional maestro is very different from yours or mine.
He has lived in the rainforest without contact with the Western world, so to
have access to the same visions, the same codes is difficult. But what I
have found is that the expansion of the consciousness and the power that the
plant gives you to understand many things is perfectly valid.
The magical space to which we are taken - call it the ‘unconscious’ or any
term you want to use depending on your psychological model - is one where
all the kingdoms of nature can communicate. That is people can talk to
plants, and plants with minerals, minerals to animals and animals with
humans… all in the same language. It is a very real communication and one of
the greatest mysteries which exists. This is something which an English
person or a Peruvian born in Lima can experience just as an Amazonian
person. Because you can do it without speaking in a native dialect, it
doesn’t go through the mind but between one spirit and another.”
On the edge of the Amazonian town Iquitos is the market river port of Belen,
which has the famous street ‘Pasaje Paquito’ where many of the rainforest,
herbs, plants, mixtures, tinctures are sold. Chatting to Juanita the owner
of the stall where I buy plants from, I remember her describing some of the
potions, lotions, plants, tonics, barks, perfumes, roots, oils, aphrodisiacs
and leaves, and remarking “when you talk to the plants you will get to know
them like friends, they have their own spirits, their own personalities”.
A look at a few of the ‘planta maestras’
The shamans say that plants connect us with nature because they take their
nourishment directly from the earth, as well as the sun’s rays, the air, and
water. They allow us to know and recognize ourselves. A shaman must know
this and must love his people to heal them.
Chiric Sanango Brumfelsia grandiflora; this plant is good for colds and
arthritis and has the effect of heating up the body, so much so that the
maestros advise a cold shower after each dose! This plant can be used in
baths for good luck, and bring success to fishing, hunting etc.
This planta maestra also makes possible for people to open up their heart to
feel love for people and animals (warms up a cold heart) and bestows the
ability to identify with other people as though they were your brothers and
sisters.
The plant grows mainly in the Upper Amazon and only a few ‘restingas’ (high
ground which never floods) in the Lower Amazon. The gift of Chiric Sanango
is self esteem, and develops a deep connection with your inner self.
On a personal note, I have dieted this plant, and although I thought the
terminology of "warming one's heart" to be a bit "cheesy", this plant really
did have an extraordinary effect on me, I really did feel this inner glow of
warmth, and friendship, and to my surprise it is still there! I feel that I
returned from my exploration with this plant a changed person.
Guayusa Piper callosum; is good for excessive acidity and other digestive
problems in the stomach and bile. Also it is both energizing and relaxing at
the same time and develops mental strength.
Guayusa also has the most interesting effect of giving lucid dreams i.e.
when you are dreaming you are aware that you are dreaming. The plant is also
known as the "night watchman's plant", as even when sleeping you seem to
have an awareness the outer physical surroundings.
On another personal note, I found the experience with this plant also to be
quite incredible. I found that the usual boundary between sleeping and being
awake to be more fluid than I had anticipated. Even now, sometime after
taking the plant my dreams are more colourful, richer, and lucid than
before. When taking this plant, I sometimes wake up not knowing if I have
actually ‘woken up’ or I am dreaming that I’ve woken up. For those
interested in 'dreaming' this is certainly the plant to explore.
Ajo Sacha Pseudocalymma; A very important planta maestra in the initiation
of Amazonian shamans. On a physical level it purifies the blood, and is used
for people suffering from arthritis and rheumatism. The other benefits are
that it brings mental strength, acuity of mind, and it can take you out of
saladera (regarded as a run of bad luck, inertia, or a sense of not living
to the full). It is also used for ridding spells. The plant is used to
enhance hunting skills by covering up human smell with the garlic-like smell
of Ajo Sacha.
The Shipibo maestro Guillermo Arevalo also added that this plant opens the
shamanic path – if we are prepared to live under the obligations of
shamanism, to do this we need the qualities of courage, and no fear of
extremes or ‘ugly’ things. We need to understand what role we will play in
our community, and have the heart of a warrior. As a personal observation,
Guillermo is one of the most highly respected maestros in the Amazonian
region and is regarded as the authority on dieting this planta maestra.
On another personal note, I found my senses being altered and enhanced with
this plant. I could zoom in and focus on sounds emanating from the
rainforest, my sense of smell became sharper, and in some ineffable way I
could tune into the breathing or rhythm of the rainforest. The sound of
insects and birds was no longer a random phenomenon, these sounds became a
rhythmic breath, rising and falling. No wonder that it is used for hunting
as one's sense are heightened in an incredible way.
Reflections
On reflection dieting plant medicine is totally different than
pharmaceutical medication which only affects one whilst it is being taken;
these kinds of plant medicines seem to have a permanent effect in some way
metaphorical or otherwise altering one's consciousness or "DNA".
One of the great revelations that we can experience in working with the
plant spirit or consciousness is that we are not separate from the natural
world. In our culture we perceive ourselves to be separate beings with our
minds firmly embedded within our physical being (typically our head). The
plants can show you that this way of being is an illusion and that we are
all connected, all of us and everything else is a discrete element in the
great universal field of consciousness or spirit. |
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